Never Forget
by Ferowyn
Summary: Hobbit Kink Meme Prompt: Bofur has an earring in his left ear


_Prompt: I have only just found out that Bofur has an earring in his left ear. Something, ANYTHING about it, please._

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**Never forget**

Bilbo squints his eyes. Bofur is doing it _again_.

He sighs heavily. If he could just stop watching him. Then he would not have to see it every single time. He clenches his fists and tries to make the fire burn higher by simply staring it down, but his eyes are inevitably drawn towards Bofur as soon as he sees the movement of his hand. Obviously absent-mindedly the dwarf reaches for his earring and turns it between his fingers. The material seems to be made of wood or horn, but he cannot tell from the distance and he does not dare to take a closer look.

Bilbo sighs once again. When he had seen it first he had been shocked. For hobbits wearing an earring has a very clear meaning, and it is not a pleasant one. By now he has learned that dwarves do not have that custom. The give jewellery – may that be a ring, a necklace or an _earring_ – they forge or carve themselves as a present to those they love in order to show their affection. Bilbo tries not to think about it, for every time he does his insides feel like somebody _braided_ them. He does not want to know who it is Bofur cares so much about that he wears their present every day. He is tired and he has just decided to go to bed when suddenly the dwarf who has been occupying his thoughts since the start of the journey sits down next to him, happily chewing a slice of bread.

"What's up, lad?"

Bilbo, desperately trying to fight back the blush threating to give his feelings away, only shrugs. "Nothing. Why?"

"Ye looked a little unhappy, that way ye were starin' into that fire," Bofur explains, offering one of his broad, beaming smiles that always raise Bilbo's spirits.

"I was just… thinking."

"And about what, if I may ask? Ye didn't look as if it was somethin' pleasant."

"It was not really unpleasant, only a little… depressing."

Bofur rolls his eyes. "Are ye tryin' to tell me that depressin' thoughts are pleasant?"

Bilbo chuckles quietly. "In a way… yes, probably they can be." After all, though his feelings may be unreturned, thinking about Bofur always makes him happy.

The dwarf shakes his head. "I don't have to understand ye", he grins. "But maybe I can distract ye from yer depressin' thoughts?"

Bilbo sighs as he can feel his curiosity take over. No, probably he does not want to know, but that cannot stop him from asking. "I have a question," he begins and Bofur motions for him to continue. "I was wondering. About your earring." The dwarf's ever-present smile fades, but that only increases Bilbo's curiosity. "For us hobbits wearing an earring is a very clear sign", he tries to explain. "that you are working in a certain… _trade_." Bofur only raises his eyebrows, waiting for the hobbit to tell him more. „In the Shire…" Bilbo blushes and clears his throat. "In the Shire, if you wear an earring it means…" The blush actually still deepens. "It means you are working in the… _horizontal business_" His cheeks are burning and he does not dare to look at the dwarf.

Bofur chokes on his bread. "You think I am a _prostitute_?" he asks unbelievingly.

Bilbo squirms. "Balin told me about your custom of giving any kind of jewellery as a sign of affection," he mutters. "But yes, that was my first thought."

For a few moments Bofur seems to be frozen before he starts to laugh. Once more Bilbo can see him rolling on the floor and no matter how embarrassed he is he enjoys the dwarf's happiness. It takes Bofur quite some time before he calms down. Bilbo sighs once more. The curiosity is still there. "Do you… do you mind if I ask who gave it to you? The earring, I mean?"

Bofur smiles sadly, and there is a pain in his eyes that makes Bilbo gulp. "It was me mother's", he explains and the hobbit cannot help but feel relieved. "She wore it on a necklace. It was the first gift me father gave to her when he decided to court her. He was deadly when he had an axe, but knives? He couldn't even cut bread without hurtin' himself. Yet he made this for her, from the tusk of an oliphaunt that had been in his family for decades. It took him a month to carve this simple piece and he almost cut his finger off in the process." His eyes darken. "It is also the only memento of hers I possess."

"And… why are you wearing it as an earring, not on a necklace?" Bilbo dares to ask, the curiosity burning in his guts, not sure whether it is wise to dwell on the matter.

Bofur seems to be lost in thoughts, caught in memories of times long gone. "When the dragon attacked Erebor", he begins, talking slowly and quietly, his voice is barely audible over the spit of the fire. Bilbo regrets having asked. "I was workin'. It took as all by surprise. I managed to save Bombur from Smaug's fury, but I was not fast enough to save me parents. She had given the pendant to me the day before, because the metal had cracked and had I offered to reforge it." He keeps quiet for a few minutes before he continues. "Bombur told me I could keep it. She had given him a ring that had been our grandfather's and he said it was all he needed." He stares into the fire and when Bilbo sees the reflection of the flames in Bofur's dark, sad eyes he wonders how they can sit around a campfire so calmly. They have seen their home burn – if that had happened to him he would be running every time somebody even mentioned flames. He gulps and watches Bofur from the corner of his eye. The dwarf's fingers are clasping the earring and pulling slightly. Surely that must hurt? He does not dare asking, though. "The piercin' was… painful," the dwarf admits and suddenly Bilbo understands. He is horrified.

"You wanted to punish yourself for failing her." Bofur only nods, his gaze is still fixed on the fire. "And you wanted to make sure you would never forget her, or the pain."

The dwarf smiles weakly. "Seems like ye have gotten to know me quite well."

Bilbo frowns. "Would you take it out?"

"Excuse me?"

"If someone gave you an earring, as a… sign of affection – would you take this one out?"

Bofur cocks his head. "I guess," he answers slowly.

Bilbo knows what he has to do.

oOo

Two days later he waits for Bofur to go to bed before he approaches him, not wanting Fili and Kili to make fun of this whole matter. Bofur, who has just sat down and started to arrange the shirt he uses as a pillow, lifts his head when he sees the hobbit take a seat next to him.

Bilbo blushes once more and hands the dwarf a tiny present wrapped in a piece of cloth. Bofur looks at him questioningly, but he does not dare to meet his eyes, only motions for the dwarf to unwrap it. He still does not move when Bofur is holding the small piece of wood between thumb and index finger, turning it in order to see it properly in the dim light of the fire.

"Does this" Bofur's voice is hoarse and he has to clear his throat. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

Bilbo smiles shyly. "You are the one who knows dwarvish customs, you tell me."

Bofur chuckles lowly. Then there is a hand under Bilbo's chin and he is drowning in those dark eyes. The lips brushing against his own make the world spin and when Bofur pulls back his fingers are playing with a new earring, but this time they only touch it carefully. "Thank you", the dwarf whispers and his beaming smile lets Bilbo's world fade once more. He thinks about the gift he has carved from a piece of wood, Nori telling him how to do it. It may not be a masterpiece, but clearly recognizable as what it is meant to be: Two intertwined runes.

_Never forget_


End file.
